“Get up.”Xena
finished tying the pack to her back as she stepped over Ares’ extended legs.
“We need to get out of here.” She extended a hand down to him. “Let’s go.”

The god of war looked steadily up at her. “Thanks, but no
thanks, babe.” He said. “I’ll stick around here.”

“Ares.” Xena reached down to grab the skin covering him, her
voice impatient. “I don’t have time to..”

Ares caught her wrist. “Xena.” He said. “Leave me here.”

Something about his tone brought Xena into a crouch next to
him, her eyes focusing sharply on his face. “This is no time to be fighting,
me, Ares.” She glanced past him to see Gabrielle pausing to square her
shoulders before she headed over to where Granella was. “Not now.”

Ares remained silent for a moment, then he also looked
quickly around.“I’m not.” He
said. “You stuck me good, baby. I’m..“ He halted, and shrugged. “Don’t see the point in getting up just to
have those hairballs burn my tooties, catch my drift?”

“Ares, it’s not the ..”

“Listen.” The god of war’s grip on her arm tightened. “You
won, Xena. Happy?” He leaned closer to her. “I know what it feels like to hurt
so bad you just want it to stop. So do me a favor and get lost, will ya? Then
maybe the hairballs will make it stop because I know I can’t get any mercy from
you.”

Xena had to take a breath and stop to think, so many
ramifications tumbling up around her it felt like a swarm of honeybees all of a
sudden. The pressure of knowing they were running out of time pressed
insistently between her shoulderblades and her stomach cramped again, making
her grimace.

“Beat it.” Ares released her, pushing her hand away from
him.

Xena rested her forearm on her knee. “I can’t.” She said. “I
can’t leave you here.”

Ares rolled his eyes. “Give me a break.”

“Ares.”Xena
hesitated, then she reached out, touching his arm. “I won’t leave you here. If
we all end up dying, then we do. I won’t leave you here for them.”

Ares looked at her, his eyes searching her face. “Why?”

The warrior half shrugged. “Just because.” She offered her
hand to him again. “Stop talking. Let’s go, or it’ll be a moot point.”

The god stared at her for a long moment, his face almost
expressionless. “I’d leave you here, y’know.” He remarked conversationally. “In
a heartbeat.”

“I know.” Xena extended her arm further. “It doesn’t
matter.”

The sound of the approaching horde echoed thorough the cave,
washing over the both of them as they remained facing off. After another pause,
though, Ares finally reached up and clasped Xena’s forearm, visibly gathering
himself. “Xena.” He grimaced as she pulled him upright and stood. “We’re both
going to regret this.”

“Probably.”She
got his arm over her shoulder and half guided, half dragged him towards the
entrance to the cave. “Stay by the wall.. just move as fast as you can.” She
called out to Pony, who had her hand on Granella’s shoulder as she stumbled
unsteadily ahead of Gabrielle.

The bard turned and looked at her, the expression on her
face making Xena wonder what had just transpired on the other side of the cave
there was so much pain in those eyes.Gabrielle held up and waited for them, slipping her arm around Ares on
the other side. “We can’t outrun them, Xe.”

“Well, she’s finally catching a clue.” Ares muttered.

“Yeah.” Xena shifted her grip and made contact with her
partner’s arm, feeling the chilled skin and the rigid tension under it. “But we
can’t just stand here and wait for em either, can we?”

They emerged into the starlight, turning a sharp right and
following the two shadowy figures on the path in front of them. Xena took a
quick look over her shoulder, judging the nearest of the hooters a quarter
candlemark away but moving fast.

No, they couldn’t outrun them. Xena exhaled. Or..well, she
and Gabrielle could outrun them, since they already had more than once but with
Gran and Ares but with them along, she knew they didn’t have long before their
chasers caught up with them.

They would fight, of course, when that happened. Xena
scanned ahead of them, searching for something, anything to tip the odds a
little.She knew that big hooter
with Ares sword was back there, and by her measure he’d been twice the size of
the bruiser she’d battered back in the first cave.

Could she fight him off? Xena exhaled. The truth was, she
didn’t want to find out if she didn’t have to. Her body was giving her warning
signals she knew she couldn’t ignore forever and whether it was her sharing
some symptoms with Gabrielle or something else going on inside her, she didn’t
feel anywhere close to invincible.

Gabrielle’s fingers closed around her elbow, and Xena looked
over at the bard, only to find her looking back with a concerned expression.

Damn it. Was Gabrielle reading her mind?She gave the bard a halfhearted grin,
and jerked her head in the direction of the cliff. “Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Ares just snorted weakly, his breathing coming labored.

“I always considered myself lucky to have found you.”
Gabrielle said, returning the grin.

“Don’t start that crap.” The god of war moaned. “I’m in
enough pain already.”

The bite in the tone made even Xena’s nose twitch, as she
glanced across Ares bowed shoulders at Gabrielle. She could feel the simmering
anger abruptly through their link, and she squeezed the bard’s arm just as
Gabrielle had grasped hers earlier.

Xena glanced behind them. “Less talk, more walk.” She urged,
barely able to see Pony and Gran ahead of them, and she realized they weren’t
going to make it to the far wall nearly in time.Instead, she tipped her head back and started scanning the
walls, using the scant light to judge the crags over their heads.

“Xe.” Gabrielle called her. “They’re coming up behind us.”

Ah. “There.” Xena nudged them to the right. “Over there,
hurry.” She called out ahead of them. “Pony! To the right!” Her eyes had picked
up the faintest hint of a chance, but it was better than the present nothing.

“Wh…” Gabrielle cut off her speech as they stumbled over the
rocky ground, and took a firmer hold on both Ares and Xena’s arm. She could
hear the approach of the hooters behind them and she wondered what Xena had spotted that was any
better than the rocks they were climbing past.

Pony and Gran had stopped ahead, and Pony was already
drawing her sword from it’s sheath and heading towards them, her eyes fixed on
what was coming up from behind. As they reached the niche Xena had spotted,
Gabrielle looked for a place to lean Ares against as she got a grip onher sadly battered three quarter staff
and prepared herself to fight.

But instead of doing the same, the warrior went to the edge
of the niche and put her boot up on a shelf only she apparently could have
seen. “Up.” She pointed at a thin, scraggly looking track heading upward,
barely wide enough for a boot to stand on. “Move. Fast.” She grabbed Pony’s arm
as she went past and pulled her around, hauling her towards the wall.

“What?” Pony pointed past her. “Xena, we don’t have time for
that they’re on top of us!”

“We’ve got time.” The warrior shot back. “Look! There’s a
path leading up. If we can make it to that ledge, we’ve got a chance.”

Pony tipped her head back and looked up into the shadows.
“What ledge!?”

“MOVE!!” The warrior bellowed at the top of her voice. She
shoved Pony towards the wall and turned, grabbing Ares and looking back past
Gabrielle. “Hurry!”

Granella shoved past her, and started up, hugging the wall
in silence. After a moment, Pony followed, sheathing her sword with a vicious
motion and turning her back on Xena. She passed Ares without a glance and
started up the wall, clasping the rocks gingerly and placing her boots with
care.

Two down. Xena turned to her partner, and put her hands on
her shoulders. “Listen.”

“Xena… “ Gabrielle lowered her voice and got close to her
partners ear. “We can’t do this.” She spared a glance up the cliff, and the
towering height seemed to waver in her view, making her queasy. “I can’t.”

Xena turned her head and they were eye to eye and nose to
nose, breathing the same air. “We have no choice but try it.” She uttered.
“Please trust me.”

Gabrielle looked into those tired, stressed blue eyes for a
heartbeat. “Xena I trust you. I just don’t’ trust me.” She whispered. “I can’t climb up there.”

The expression on the warrior’s face didn’t shift an inch,
despite the growing sound of the pursuit behind them. “Gab, what are you afraid
of?”

“What?”’

Xena reached up and touched her partner’s face, refusing to
let the panic around them steal the moment form her. “What are you afraid will
happen if you climb up there?”

Gabrielle blinked. “I’ll f..fall.”

“And?”

The bard felt a tight pressure in her chest and she knew her
hands were shaking. “And I guess I’ll die.”

Xena looked to the right, where the crowd of hooters were
rounding the last bend, and were in moments of spotting them. “If you stay
here, we’ll both die.”

Gabrielle took another breath, then she grabbed Xena’s arm
and started towards the rock wall where Pony was already struggling upward with
Gran, and Ares leaned and waited.She was no less afraid of the climb, but after all the years she’d been
with Xena, she’d at last grown into the knowledge that life was often full of
extremely sucky choices and you just had to do rotten things.

She felt ashamed of her fear, ashamed that Xena had risked
those precious moments to gently reason with her, instead of conking her over
the head and dragging her up over one shoulder – something she knew the warrior
was more than capable of.

They reached Ares and she took his arm. “Okay, up we go.”

Ares looked at Xena. “You running from them?” He snickered.

“Yep.” Xena grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shoved
him up onto the first uneven level “So were you when I found ya. So move it, or
I’ll leave you to em.”

“Bitch.” Ares took hold of the rock wall and struggled
upward. “Thought you said you couldn’t do it.” He mimicked her tone mockingly.

“Changed my mind.”Xena glanced behind them. The hooters spotted her and a howl went up,
making her reach over and pull her sword from it’s sheath. “Faster!”

Gabrielle felt her boots slip a little on the rock, and she
grabbed a handhold on the wall, letting her staff rattle from her fingertips
and roll away. “Damn it.” She kept her other hand on Ares, and followed him as
they climbed as fast as they could, which wasn’t very fast at all.

Xena was climbing backwards, using her boots to kick hard at
the irregular ledge they were climbing up, bits and pieces of it breaking off
and rolling down the slope towards the onrushing horde. She could smell the
burning torches now, and the smell of the hooters wafted up to her, foul and
musky.

The thin break in the rock they were climbing up offered
only a scant chance, and Xena knew that. But if they were high enough, she also
knew the hooters would have a hard time coming up after them, and even so, only
one at a time.She braced her back
against Gabrielle’s and kept moving, shifting her sword in her right hand as
the first of the hooters gained the rock wall.

Behind him, the first of the horde was closing in.Xena squinted in the dim light, feeling
a brief sense of relief when she didn’t spot the big bruiser with Ares sword
anywhere in the front.

Then she forgot about him when the second hooter, a shadowy
figure near the first, raised his arms in a familiar gesture and she felt her
body react, her sword arm coming up and her hand twisting her blade enough to
deflect the crude arrow speeding at her.

“Xena!”

“Keep moving.” Xena half turned her body, so it protected as
much of her partner as possible. “I got this.” She deflected another arrow.
“Stay close to the wall! Tell them!”

Gabrielle tore her attention from her shaking knees and
edged her head past Ares’ shoulder. “Pony! Stay near..”

“I heard her.” Pony yelled back. “Serves her right for
giving them the damn bow!”

Gabrielle exhaled. “Pony?”

“What!”

“Go to Hades.”The bard felt her temper’s edge fray. “I hope she misses one.” She eased
her hand forward and grabbed hold of a crack, feeling the harsh rock sting her
fingertips as the solid warmth of Xena’s shoulder pressed against her.

Pony didn’t answer.

Xena saw the first line of hooters start to climb clumsily
after them, the first of them tumbling off the ledge after a few feet and
rolling down the slope. The arrow shooter dodged him, and let go another shaft,
but this one wobbled precariously in flight and fell far short of them.

A hooter scrambled up the narrow path, his hands reaching
out for her as he tried to keep his balance. Xena got her weight on her back
foot and lashed out with her other, kicking the hooter in the head and throwing
him backwards in a violent tumble.

One down.But
the rest of the hooters just took this as encouragement and started to swarm up
the side of the wall, eyes fixed on them.

Then a loud booming hoot rang out, and Xena’s eyes lifted,
to see the big bastard coming towards them, Ares sword clutched in both
hands.His eyes were fastened on
her, and her alone, and she felt a sudden, uneasy energy from him that made her
hair prickle.

Her heart started to pound, a soft thunder that was matched
unexpectedly by the skies overhead. “Gabrielle.”

“Yeah.” The bard’s voice was breathy, and had a tremble in
it.

“We need to go faster.”

“Trying.”

“Try harder.”

**

“One more step!”

Gabrielle got her fingers arounda crack in the rock, her free arm clutched around Ares body
as she half shoved, half carried him up onto the ledge just barely before Xena
knocked all of them over.“Whoa!”
She yelped, keeping her balance and moving as tight against the wall as she
could.

The ledge was narrow, barely large enough to hold two of
them side by side, but it seemed wide as their cabin after the harrowing
quarter candlemark’s balance on the thin path.She turned and pressed her back against the rock, reaching
out to put her hand against Xena’s shoulder.

The muscles under the skin were twitching, and as she
watched, Xena’s blade flickered out into the darkness and deflected something
away, the soft thunk audible over the hiss of the rain.

Thunder rumbled, and lightning framed them in dangerous
silver, outlining the swarming, dark figures heading up the wall after them.
The rain had done them one favor- the torches had been put out and now the
hooters were having to deal with the darkness just like they were.

The darknesswas doing her a favor too, since it masked how high they were off the
ground. “Xe, now what?”She
circled the warrior with one arm and gave her a brief hug from behind, taking
care to keep clear of her sword.

She was tired, and her legs were aching so badly she was
afraid they were going to cramp up on her.With a sigh, she tipped her head back and opened her mouth,
waiting patiently for the rain to fill it as she kept a hand on Xena’s
shoulder.

“Take a breather.” Xena muttered, her eyes darting back and
forth as she tried to keep the hooters in her range of vision. The storm was
slowing them up, and they were clumsy climbers – four of them had fallen off
the path already thought the rest were making their way up wards.

The big one, though, had taken another path. He was climbing
up the cliff almost directly under them, scaling the almost sheer wall with
energy and some skill.“Second
thought, keep moving.” She risked turning her head and glancing up ward.

In the darkness and the rain, she only hoped she saw a
continuing way up.Xena looked
down again, just as the big hooter looked up, and their eyes met.

The hooter bared his teeth in what might have been a
smile.Xena deliberately turned
her head again and dismissed him, focusing her attention on Gabrielle’s tense
face instead. “We’ve got to keep going.”

Even in the shadows, the bard’s expression was clear. She
took a breath to speak, then paused, and simply laid her cheek against Xena’s
shoulder briefly, before she turned and took hold of Ares arm again.

“Go where?”Pony shoved past Ares to confront her. “Go up and fall off? There’s no
place to go!”

Xena thought she really should be losing her patience, but
instead, she merely felt tired. Before she could throw an answer back,
Gabrielle got between the two of them and straightened. “Eponin, there’s a
path. Even I can see it. Now please just move.”The bard said, quietly. “There’s no time to fight about it.”

The rain came down harder, drenching them, leaving them in
shadows broken only by fitful bursts of lightning. “This is nuts.” Pony said.
“We’re gonna croak doing this.’

“Probably.” Gabrielle reached out and gave her a nudge.
“Just go.”

“Just go?”

A loud crack resonated overhead, and small bits of rock dropped
down around them. Gabrielle gave Pony another shove. “We go down, we die. We
stay here, we die, we go up there, maybe we die. Move.” Her voice was low, but
resigned.

“B..”

“Pony, please.”Gabrielle glanced at Ares, but the god of war remained leaning against
the rock, his eyes closed. “I know you have no respect for me as a person or
your queen right now, but just do it.” She felt a sudden hand on her back, and
saw Pony’s eyes shift over her shoulder and for once she absolutely didn’t mind
the intervention.

“Go.” Xena’s voice echoed from behind her, in a flat, no
nonsense tone, accompanied by the rasping sound of her sword being sheathed.

“Or?” Pony asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Or I’ll throw you over to them.” The warrior responded.

“You’re so full of crap.” The Amazon got the words half out
of her mouth before she was grabbed by the front of her leathers and her belt
and she was being lifted up off the ground and over Xena’s head. “AAAUUUU!!”

Gabrielle had stepped out of the way and pressed herself
against the rock, her eyes fastened on her soulmate as the lightning flared,
and outlined the warrior’s powerful body in uncompromising silver. She was
aware of Granella standing to her right, but she kept her attention focused,
unsure honestly of what Xena was going to do.

Kill Pony? Gabrielle exhaled. What the Hades, right? Maybe
it would just save her some trouble.

Pony found herself staring up at the sky, and suddenly the
memory of how Xena had killed Arella, there in the village in front of the
entire tribe surfaced.

The rain felt icy as it touched her skin, and in pure
reflex, she went completely limp and unresisting. “All right!” She yelled. “All
right, Xena, by the gods, put me down! Don’t kill me!”

Everything went still, then she was moving through the air
again, the sky whirling crazily over her head as she was inverted, then her
boots hit the ground, and she was shoved roughly towards the rock wall,
slamming against it with painful force.

When the stars cleared from her eyes,Xena’s hands slammed to either side of
her head as the warrior glared at her, a feral expression on her face she
hadn’t seen for a very long time. “Okay I’m goin.”

Pony stared at her, then shook her head and turned, only to
find Granella already climbing away from them, up the cliff face. “Hey!
Wait!”She got her foot on the
first part of the uneven path, and pulled herself forward. “Gran!”

Xena turned, and briefly found herself nose to nose with
Gabrielle.“Damn.” She exhaled.
“That hurt.”

The bard merely leaned against her and exhaled, before she
straightened back up and took a moment to wipe the rain from her eyes. “C’mon,
Ares.” She took hold of his arm, as Xena drew her weapon again and slipped past
them, her eyes anxiously searching the darkness below.

The god opened his eyes and looked at her. Then he shifted
his attention to Xena, who was standing with her back to them, sword at the
ready. “Aint’ gonna work, y’know.”

Xena deflected another arrow, but this one was so off the
mark it hadn’t really needed deflecting. The big hooter had paused in his
climb, as the thunder rolled over head and the rain battered him, hugging the
cliff with both arms outstretched.

Down the path, the other hooters had paused also, the
driving rain so thick they could barely be seen.Then a bolt of lightning arced from the sky, and Xena moved
quickly, throwing herself against both her partner and Ares as the lightning
struck the cliff wall over their heads with a huge, booming roar.

Instantly, they were being pelted with knife sharp bits of
stone that tumbled down around them with increasing frequency. “Move.” Xena
urged them both towards the upper path. “Hurry!” Boulders started dropping
around them, crashing against the ledge and breaking parts of it off.

Gabrielle scrambled behind Ares to the edge of the path and
got a handhold on the wall, keeping her head down as rocks continued to bounce
off her shoulders.She heard Xena
cursing behind her, then she felt a powerful surge of fear and she turned her
head just in time to see the big hooter come powering over the ledge, his hand
outstretched towards Xena’s leg.

“YAA!” Xena backed up and pressed her body against the rock
as the hooter got to his feet and pulled Ares sword out of a rough tie around
his waist. The big sword collected every bit of light around them and flashed,
and it was all she could do to bring her own weapon up as he charged towards
her.

Gabrielle released Ares, and started to turn, her balance
wavering precariously as she tried to shift her feet and reverse their
position.

Ares grabbed her arm. “Hold it.” He rasped. “Wherea ya
goin?’

“Let go of me.” Gabrielle grabbed at his fingers.

“Listen!” The god of war tightened his grip. “For once,
don’t make it worse for her. Stay out of it!”

The ring of steel drew both their eyes, and Gabrielle
hesitated, watching Xena struggle under the big hooter’s attack. There was
barely room for the warrior to fight, and she seemed to be fighting very hard
to keep her opponents sword from breaking through her defenses.

“Ares, let go of me.”Gabrielle wrenched his fingers from her arm, and started to scramble
down the rock path towards the fighters, ducking as a set of boulders rolled
over the top of her and headed down the slope.She managed to get back to the ledge just as Xena dodged a
clumsy swing and got around to the other side of the small space leaving the
big hooter’s back to her partner.

Doesn’t need me? Gabrielle picked up a rock and hefted it,
waiting for an opening.The
hooter was chopping at Xena in an almost random manner, but his strength was
incredible, and the warrior was having trouble deflecting the strikes.“Xena!”She let fly with her rock, gratified when it hit the hooter
in the back, making him jerk around.

Xena took advantage of the distraction and knocked his sword
away, swinging a reverse thrust with her own sword that would have cut him up
the middle if he hadn’t stepped back, seeming to sense the attack.

The rain drove in her face, and Xena could only spare a
second to give her head a shake to clear some of the water and hair from her
vision.Behind her, she could hear
grunts and rattles, and she knew the hooters were coming up the path.

She could hold them off, maybe, but she knew it would do no
good to tell Gabrielle to leave. Without the bard, Ares had no chance of making
it up the side of the mountain, and without all of them, Pony and Gran probably
wouldn’t make it either.

So what the Hades was the point?

The hooter came at her again, and she set her feet, leaning
forward as she swept her blade up to meet the swing coming down at her head.
The impact of the blade against hers was incredible, and it took all the
strength she had to keep her legs from buckling, and her arms from giving way
to let the sword of war cleave her in half.

Lighting blasted over head, and she caught a break as the
hooter flinched, and she was able to deflect his sword to one side, but only
briefly as he recovered and yanked his arms around in a sweeping lunge she knew
she couldn’t meet.

There was barely room to move on the ledge, but she waited
until the last minute, then she ducked and threw herself past him, touching
down with one hand on the rock and pushing herself up into a rolling motion
that got her back to her feet before he could turn to meet her.

She stepped forward and brought her sword around, slicing
him across the side as he turned, sending a spray of blood into the air as he
let out a bellow.

A rock flew past her shoulder, and hit him in the head, as
Xena followed up her advantage and got another hit in, cutting deep into his
thigh before he whipped his arms back across his body and clipped her in the
shoulder, sending her hard against the rock and thanking all the gods she
didn’t believe in she wasn’t on the other side of him.

He swung at her again, and she managed to catch the much
longer sword against hers, near the hilt, the impact nearly breaking her
wrists, strong as they were. Then she was up against the hooter, and he was
dipping his head, teeth bared, at her throat.

Xena felt her knees start to buckle under the force and she
struggled to free her sword, as the hooter’s blade came closer and closer to
her head, and the teeth closer and closer to her throat.

Through the rain, she caught a brief glimpse of Gabrielle
coming towards them, and the hooter realized it as well. He jerked back and
swung around, swiping the huge sword right at Gabrielle with a howl of outrage.

Xena released one hand off her sword and reached up for a
hand hold, pulling herself up off the ground and getting both boots up as she
kicked hard outward, uncoiling her body with all the strength she could muster.
She kicked the hooter right in the ribs as he was turning, and she felt bone
crack as he staggered to one side, the sword swinging wildly and dangerously
close to Gabrielle’s head.

The bard ducked, and scooted to Xena’s far side, picking up
another rock and winding up to throw it.

A hooter scrambled over the ledge, and let out a howl of
triumph, as he reached for Gabrielle’s arm, and the big hooter lifted the sword
of war over his head and rushed at Xena.

The thunder rolled over head, growing louder and louder.

And louder.

**

Xena waited until her opponent was almost on top of her, the
stench of him filling her nose as she held her ground to the last moment when
his huge blade was heading right for her skull. Then she ducked under his right
arm and escaped, hearing the blade hit the rock with a grinding crunch behind
her.

In the same motion, she stepped close to Gabrielle, circled
her with one arm and pulled her off her feet as she went around the back of the
big hooter, the bard’s legs swinging out over thin air before she landed her
near the path upward. “Stay!”

Gabrielle grabbed hold of the rock as she was released. “I’m
going to keep throwing rocks!”

“Fine!” Xena put her shoulder down and body slammed the big
hooter, who was trying to yank the sword he’s sunk into the rock out of it. She
knocked him off balance and into the two just climbing over the edge, knocking
them back and sending them sprawling off the ledge to hang precariously.

No time to take advantage of that. Xena found herself diving
out of the way as the big hooter recovered, lashing out to kick her, his foot
missing her body but hitting her sword arm and smashing it against the ground.

Her lower arm went numb, and she lost her grip on her
weapon. With a yowl, he dove on top of it before she could turn over and grab
it with her other hand and now she found herself rolling away from him before
he could gut her with her own blade.

He got up. She got up, a flash of metal catching her eye as
she leaped for the hilt of Ares sword, still embedded in the rock and got hold
of it as she swung her legs around to brace to pull it out.

Her fingers closed around the carved hilt.

A sound like that of the sky splitting sounded over head,
and a blast of light turned everything around her to silver.

For a moment, she thought she’d been hit by lightning. There
was a cracking sound, and a flash, and a jolt up her arm that went right up
into her armpit and tightened her chest.

Her vision blurred, and she felt her heart thump an
irregular rhythm in her chest and for a moment she couldn’t catch her breath.

Then the light faded, and her pulse steadied and the world
returned to rain spattered darkness as the pain and the strangeness faded away.

She felt the attack coming behind her, and her body arched
as the sword came out of the rock and she flipped backwards, landing and
whirling low as the hooter’s arms and the her sword whispered over her head so
close it tugged strands from it.

“Xena!”

Her reflexes had her moving before she heard her name called
and she was leaping through the air and twisting to land on the other side of
the hooter, bringing the big sword over in an arc in front of her as her boots
scuffed against the rock.

The hooter came at her, but now, somehow, the size didn’t
matter and her blood was surging and she could smell the fear in the air around
her.

She got her other hand around the hilt of the sword of war
and stood, the rain slacking enough for her to get a clear view of things
around her as she stepped forward and swung at the hooter, blades clashing as
she powered through the attack and sent his hands flying apart, her sword
deflecting the one in his grip and giving her an opening wide enough for her to
simply drive forward, throwing all her body weight into a savage lunge that put
the point of the sword right through his chest.

Blood gushed out, splashing over her hands and her face as
her forward motion drove her into him, knocking him back into the rock as the
blade dropped from his hands and he slid to one side, his fingers scrabbling at
the big blade protruding from his chest.

Xena breathed in the scent of hot copper, tasting a drop of
it on her lips as she watched the hooter die, his eyes rolling up into his
head, only the last of many who had fallen to her lethal skills.

What had she been afraid of?

Thunder rolled again, and a flash of lighting lit up the
ledge as she pulled the sword out of him, letting him slump to the ground as
she took a step back and half turned, sensing motion to her right.

Hooters were swarming over the ledge.Xena took another step back and felt a
warm pressure on her arm, turning her head to find Gabrielle shoulder to
shoulder with her, the bard’s hands clenched around the hilt of Xena’s sword.
“What do you think you’re doing with that?”

“Whatever I can.” The bard replied. “You okay?”

Xena glanced at her. “I’m fine. Why?”

Gabrielle smiled grimly, and shifted her grip on the sword.

They faced the wall of hooters heading their way and Xena
realized there were too many of them to fight off. They’d be overwhelmed by
sheer numbers in a second, and probably shoved right off the cliff. “Hey Gab?”

“Yeah?”

“Want to start climbing up there and let me fight em off?”

“No.”

“Figured you’d say that.”Xena took a step forward and got ready, raising the sword of
war and letting out the loudest, meanest yell she could come up with to counter
the wild hoots ringing against the stone.

Six of them got footholds on the rock and started for them,
two holding spears and a third a fistful of arrows.As they approached, thunder rolled overhead again, and kept
rolling so violently it was shaking the ground Xena was standing on.

The warrior winced, and took a step towards the hooters,
turning sideways to get as much power into a swing as she could.There wasn’t room for Gabrielle to
fight next to her, but from the corner of her eye, she saw her blade raise up
as the bard held it like a dagger in front of her, having the sense to keep it
close to her body in a defensive posture.

Lightning flashed, and behind the six hooters she could see
dozens more, pouring up the mountain now with confidence, climbing towards
them.

Fast learners. Xena cursed under her breath. “Stay close to
me.”

“Don’t worry.”

The sound got louder, and the echoes had started pounding
against her skull, when a deeper rumble her subconscious remembered all too
well cut through the noise and sent her spinning instantly towards Gabrielle,
grabbing her partner and slamming both of them against the rock wall.

“Blefh!” Gabrielle coughed. “W..”

Xena threw her
arm over Gabrielle’s head and covered as much of her as she could as what
seemed like half the mountain came down the slope, rocks smacking her in the
back as they rolled down over the ledge.She felt rock chips sting the backs of her legs and she edged closer, as
the screams of the hooters rose over the thunder.

Gabrielle remained stock still, realizing she was in the
safest place on the mountain, that the hooters were being crushed under tons of
rock, and that she was being protected from the rain.It was such a sudden change from the deadly terror of the
moment before that her head hurt thinking about it, so she justallowed herself go blank instead,
letting the sound of Xena’s heartbeat overwhelm the chaos around them.

In a few minutes, it was over. The thunder subsided, and
slowly, the rattle and rumble of rocks died away leaving only the sound of rain
spattering against the rock.

Gabrielle took a slow, deep breath and started to shift her
position.

“Don’t move.” Xena whispered.

The bard froze. “Are they still there?”

“No.” Her partner muttered. “But neither is the ledge. I’m
holding on by my toes.”

“Urk.” Gabrielle pressed herself further back into the rock
and grabbed the front of her Xena’s leathers. “What happened?”

“No idea.” Xena very gingerly extended her leg and got a
foothold on the path. “Just hold still.”She reached out with her free hand and curled her fingers around a bit
of rock, sliding her boot forward a little and then shifting her weight to that
foot as she pulled herself up onto the path.

Only then, did she turn her head and look down.

The ledge was gone, save the sliver Gabrielle was standing
on. Below them, hundreds of boulders and bits of rock were piled, barely seen
in the rain and the darkness.Thewarrior exhaled slowly,
before she wedged Ares sword behind her sheath, and held her hand out to
Gabrielle. “Hand that over.”

The bard handed the sword over, and watched as she sheathed
it.Glad to have both hands free,
she quickly fastened her fingers to the rocks behind her, and cautiously looked
down.

Darkness. Shadows. The rattle of pebbles falling.

Then, from above them she heard a different sound. “Xena..!”
She cocked her head and listened. “Is that… are th.. it’s those big animals,
isn’t it?”

Faint bugles echoed out, tinged with triumph and
unmistakable.

“I hear it.” The warrior edged over, and held a hand out.
“C’mon.”

The bard took her hand and cautiously sidled over to join
her. “What happened to..”

Xena glanced over her shoulder. “Rocks buried em.” She moved
away from the ledge, keeping a wary eye out for loose rocks. “Guess they were
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

A high, warbling bugle echoed softly from above.

Gabrielle joined her on the path, and they worked their way
back up to where Ares was still leaning, apparently content to wait.“Where are they?” She peered around,
but the rain, and the darkness defeated her vision. “Do you see them?”

Xena tipped her head back and searched the walls around
them. Lightning flared, and she thought she saw a trunk waving over the top of
the ridge above them, but she knew that wasn’t possible.

A soft trumpet drifted down.

Was it?

The sound faded, and they were left in darkness, with only
the rain coming down around them.“I don’t.. I don’t know what happened.” She finally said, as they came
up to where the god of war was waiting. Ahead of them – no sign of Pony or
Gran.

Going down was no longer an option.She licked her lips, and tasted blood
again. Turning her face to the sky, she let the rain wash her skin, catching a
few drops on her tongue and savoring the sweetness of it. At least they were
only fighting the mountain now.

Ares lifted his head as they reached him, and his eyes found
hers and even in the darkness, she could see him smile.

The rain slacked off a little, becoming a chill mist rather
than a pounding deluge as they stood quietly, gathering themselves to move
on.Gabrielle studied the
distinctive outline of the sword of war nestled over Xena’s shoulder, before
she turned and searched the slopes, hoping to see a glimpse of their furry
friends.

Her knees were shaking, and she felt very cold inside. After
a brief hesitation, she leaned against Xena’s shoulder and collected what
warmth she could from the warrior’s rain spattered skin.

She could feel the faint tremors still running through
Xena’s body, and after a second, the warrior half turned and put both arms
around her, seeming to want the contact as much as she did.

And why not? Gabrielle craved the certainty of what she and
Xena shared in this wild, wide ocean of uncertainty they found themselves
in.She no longer wondered what
they were going to do next – she only wanted Xena to be there next to her.

Amphipolis seemed very far away now, she felt a dull fog
separating her from her family, and from her daughter, waiting there at home,
wondering…

Gabrielle drew a steadying breath, and lifted her head to
look up at Xena. “We ready to go?’

Tired blue eyes peered out from between sodden bangs. “No
place to go but up.”

Xena managed to work her way around him and took the lead,
putting the god of war between her and Gabrielle.She edged around a heavy boulder then pulled up short as she
came face to face with Pony coming back the other direction.

They stared at each other momentarily, then Pony looked
away. “I was.. I heard stuff.” She muttered. “Thought I could help.”

“We took care of it.” Xena replied, briefly.

Pony looked back at her, then her eyes lifted as she spotted
the dual hilts over Xena’s shoulder. She stared at the sword of war, then she
looked Xena’s face for a long moment. “Yeah.” She shifted and started moving
back in the direction she came. “That ‘splains a lot.”

Xena wished she didn’t know what Pony was talking about. She
stared briefly at her hands pressed against the rock, misty rain drenching the
surface of her skin as the first light of the coming dawn put faint shadows
between her knuckles.

Her palms still tingled from the touch of that hilt.

“Xe.” Gabrielle called over. “Everything okay?”

Ah well. First things first, which was getting the Hades up
the damn wall. “Yeah.” She turned to get back around Ares, only to find the god
smirking at her, blocking the path.“Don’t be a jerk.”

“Why not?” Ares asked. “Gotta get some fun outta this before
I drop dead.”

Xena stared at him.

Ares smiled grimly back at her, lifting away a bit of the
tattered catskin, revealing the wound that now spread half across his chest,
red and swollen, and seeping ugly yellow pus. He returned the skin to it’s
place and resumed his hold on the rock. “Suffering every minute for you,
babycakes. Give me a nice view to make up for it.. I love your butt in those
leathers.”

Her face twitched in response. “Gabrielle – take a step
back.” She crouched, then leaped up, catching a tiny shelf over Ares head with
her fingertips and swinging herself up and over the obstacle to land neatly
next to the bard.

Ares returned his head forward from it’s uptilted position.
“That wasn’t bad either.” He rallied, undaunted.

“Jackass.” The warrior muttered, under her breath.

“Urg.” Gabrielle had her eyes closed, and her body pressed
close to the rock.

“You canopen
em now.” Xena patted her on the back comfortingly. “I made it.”

A green orb cautiously appeared, then both eyes opened and
Gabrielle released her breath.“Good grief, Xe.Was it
worth the risk? What if you slipped?” She put out a hand in reflex and touched
the warrior’s arm.

Xena could feel the fear in her, and the coming dawn
revealed the tension that marked her partner’s face. “Of course you’re worth
the risk.” She replied casually. “What kind of dumb question is that?”

That produced a wry smile in return, but the warrior could
see the shivers racking the bard’s body, and wished she could do more. “Least the
sun’s coming up.”

“Oh.” Gabrielle murmured. “Yay. I was so looking forward to
seeing how high up we are.”

Whoops. “C’mon.” Xena sighed. “Just keep looking at the
wall.”

“Okay.” The bard answered, in a small voice.She kept both hands on the rock and stayed
as close to it as possible, the rough surface scraping along her midriff.A cold, wet wind blew at her back, and
made her all the more aware of how much open space there was behind her, and as
the light slowly grew she felt a sense of terror growing with it in her guts.

She could hear birds waking up, and taking flight, and she
tried to block out the knowledge that they should be over her head, not even
with her shoulderblades.

Or worse.

A thousand scenarios of falling began to play in her mind,
shortening her breathing until a warm, steadying hand settled on the back of
her neck and she felt Xena’s close presence next to her. “Thanks.”

A hawk let out a cry behind her, as Gabrielle briefly opened
her eyes and looked at the rock before her nose. It was weathered, and gray,
and between the cracks tiny bits of lichen clung, stubbornly surviving despite
the winds and the hard surface they rested on.

She could smell the lichen. They had a green, somewhat musky
scent that reminded her of their dell back in Amphipolis and the long
afternoons she’d spent there loving Xena and watching the sunlight trickle over
the both of them.

She thought about the many places she’d been with Xena. Hot
places, and cold, friendly and war torn. Beautiful, wild places, and the
biggest cities in the land.“Xe?”

“Mm?”

“I am home.” Gabrielle said. “So let’s just work on making
it back to Dori.”

Xena’s fingers squeezed the back of her neck gently. “Gotcha.”

She just had time to settle herself down, when a hoarse
scream broke the air. Gabrielle inhaled sharply. “Is that Gran??”

Xena cocked her head. “Pony!” She yelled.

“SHIT!” The Amazon hollered back. “XENA!!!”

Xena prodded Ares in the back. “Move faster.”

The god of war didn’t. “Aren’cha gonna fly over me again and
go save the day?” He suggested. “Big old hero deal? G’wan.”

The warrior reviewed the rock wall over their heads, then
she pushed him again. “No.” She said. “So get moving, or I’ll tie a rope around
your ugly neck and drag you along for the ride.”

Ares turned and looked at her, the mocking attitude
evaporating. “Watch it, Xena.” He warned, softly. “We’re not always gonna be in
this pit, and we both know dying ain’t the end of everything.”

A scuffle of rock warned her, then Pony skidded into view
around the next bend of rock. Her face was dead white, visible in the growing
dawn and her eyes were nearly half out of her head. “Something’s got hold of
Gran.”

“Again?” Ares replied in a bored tone. “I don’t see the
attraction there at all.”

“How?” Xena whispered back. “Fly?”She drew her own sword out and started poking Ares in the
butt with it. “Get moving, Ares!”

“Ow!”

“MOVE!”

**

They came around the last bend and saw Granella on the
ground, her body pulled taut against the rock wall by a long, snakelike object.
She was struggling against it, yanking at the moving band, but it was resisting
her efforts. “Augh!”

Xena unsheathed her sword as they came to the marginally
wider section of the ledge and slipped past Ares. “Hold still!” She twirled her
sword in her hand and passed the backpedaling Pony, intent on the thick rope
holding Gran to the wall. “I’m gonna cut it off!”

Gran kept struggling, letting out a gutteral scream, as Pony
darted in and started to yank at the coil holding her. “She can’t breathe!”

Xena took aim, and dove for her knees, raising her sword
over her head and hoping her aim was as accurate as she remembered.

Ares seemed glad enough to find a slight cut in and slump
down onto it, resting his head against the harsh granite wall. He glanced up as
Gabrielle came up next to him, and stuck his boots out into her path with a malicious
smile. “Dare ya.”

Gabrielle halted and stared at him.

“Gwan. Go scream for your girlfriend.” Ares taunted her.

Instead, the bard looked past him, shading her eyes from the
rising sun as she tried to see what was going on. “Xena! Stop!”

The warrior’s head turned. “What?” She paused in mid motion,
though, the note in her partner’s voice sounding a warning her senses obeyed
without question.

“Don’t do it!” Gabrielle insisted, focusing her attention
back on Ares.

The god of war, his eyebrows nearly into his hairline, drew
his boots in and gestured her forward with an exaggeratedly courtly
gesture.“Hey. Didn’t think ya had
it in ya. But after what she said, don’t blame ya, either, cupcake.”

Gabrielle bolted past him and got to Xena’s side just as Pony
reacted to what she’d said and dove at her, tackling her in a furious flurry of
angry blows.

Xena twisted in mid air and got an arm around Pony’s middle,
hauling her up and off Gabrielle as though she were a sack of wheat. She kept
her momentum going as the bard rolled under them both, coming up onto her knees
and reaching for the vine around Granella’s body.

“Gran!” Gabrielle tried to grab the flailing arms. “Stop!
Stop it!”

“You bitch!” Granella glared wildly at her, turning her
grasping to punches instead, as she tried to hit Gabrielle.

“What in Hades is wrong with you!” Pony grappled with Xena
furiously. “Lemme go! She’s getting killed there! You want her to die? That it?
So no one knows what you didn’t do??”

Xena body slammed her to the ground and dropped over her,
using her size advantage to pin the Amazon firmly to the ground. She had no
real idea what was going on behind her, and the dust they were kicking up kept
her from seeing what Gabrielle was doing.“Gab!”

Gabrielle blocked the fists flying at her. “Gran! Just stop!
Please!”

“Bitch!”

The bard gave up and dove into the fray, turning her
shoulders so the blows fell on her back as she grabbed hold of the vine,
reaching along it with frantic fingers.She could feel nails scraping her skin along her spine, and the sharp
pain as Granella punched her.

Her fingers squeezed around Granella’s side, scraping
against the rock as she pulled her sister in law towards her with all her
strength. “Gran!”

Fingers tangled in her hair and pulled hard. Gabrielle
tightened the muscles around her neck and just kept digging with her hand,
jamming it between Granella and the rock painfully.She managed to reach her objective just as her neck muscles
gave out and her head snapped backwards, her fingers touching the very end of
the vine and taking hold of it.“Augh!”

The cry of pain, she knew, would bring Xena around to her
aid. She only hoped the warrior would temper her reaction and she wouldn’t end
up covered in blood. “Cmon.. c’mon.. “ She whispered, squeezing with her
fingertips as she sensed motion behind her and the wave of dark energy, and
heard the bellow of rage coming from Xena’s throat.

A squeeze back, then suddenly, everything was in motion as
the vine uncoiled and snaked back towards her, wrapping itself around her own
body as she twisted loose from Granella’s grip only to be caught in the vine’s
as she rolled over and looked for her partner. “Xe!”

Xena was at her side in an instant, cursing and reaching for
the vine. Gabrielle grabbed her hands and held them, repeating the
warrior’sname over again until
the blue eyes met hers and everything went still.“It’s okay.”

“It’sokay.”
Gabrielle said again, releasing one hand so she could pat the vine with her
other one. “Look..it’s okay. It’s
our friends.”She relaxed against
the rock, breathing hard herself as the cool stone stung the scratches on her
back.

Xena’s eyes slowly went to the muscular stripe wound around
her partner’s body, and her mind sorted out the rings, and the hair, and she
exhaled loudly.“Gods be damned.”

Gabrielle rolled onto her back, now that she was assured her
partner wasn’t going to do anything rash, and peered inside the crack the trunk
had issued from. In the faint light, she could see a big brown eye peering back
at her with bemusement. “Hi.”

Xena rocked back onto her heels and turned her head to stare
at their companions. Granella was pressed against the rock wall nearby, holding
the back of her hand to her mouth, a drizzle of blood staining the skin of her
knuckles.Eponin was flat on her
back, one hand resting on her stomach, the other hand covering her eyes.

A very awkward silence fell, broken briefly by a desultory
clapping from Ares.Xena swiveled
and rested her hands on her thigh once he stopped.“I really don’t care what you both think right now.” She
stated, in a calm voice. “But let me tell you, the next time someone lays a
finger on her..” She pointed atGabrielle.

“Why not just kill us now?” Granella cut her off.

“What makes you think I want to?” The warrior replied. “What
the Hades is going on here? You got grabbed, and I’m sorry for that, Granella,
but I didn’t cause that.”

The other woman glowered at her. “You didn’t do anything
about it.’

“I didn’t?” Xena pointed at her own chest. “Who went into
the cave after you?We did.” She
indicated Gabrielle and herself.

“No.” Granella shot right back. “You listen.. I trusted you!
I trusted you to keep me safe, because that’s what you do, Xena! I trusted you
and you..”

“Damn it!”

Gabrielle leaned against the rock wall, feeling it all
sliding out of control around her. She fingered the trunk that was now
exploring her torso curiously, wondering if this was the mama animal and if it
was, if the baby was with her.“Hey.” She murmured into the dark crack, reaching her hand inside to
stroke the animal’s trunk. “What are you doing in there, huh?”

A soft bugle answered her. The opening was about as wide as
her thigh, and extended up a little taller than her head. Granella must have
leaned there a moment to rest, and the rest….

“Okay.” Xena said. “Let’s save all this until we’re out of
here. We don’t have time to fight.”

Gabrielle watched as the animal plucked at her belly,
patting it with the nub at it’s end. “I bet you’re the mama, huh?” She said.
“Are you seeing a baby in there?” Her fingers touched the nub. “You think my
baby’s gonna make it?”

She only became aware of the silence after she felt Xena’s
hand wrap around her ankle. She looked up to find all three women looking at
her.“You know.” She said, after a
brief pause. “I don’t want anyone here to die.”

“Gabrielle.” Xena’s voice dropped.

“I want us all to get out of here, and get back to our
families.” The bard watched Granella’s face, seeing the horror, and still the
anger in her eyes. “So like Xena said.. can we put a hold on the blame until
then?”

Granella just looked away, wiping the blood from her mouth
with an impatient gesture.Pony
looked at the ground, then shook her head in silence.

Xena came over and crouched next to her partner, putting a
hand on her shoulder, and squeezing it. “We need to keep moving.”

“I know.” Gabrielle took Xena’s fingers, and brushed them
against the nub, which nibbled the warrior’s skin. “How did they get in there,
Xena? Inside the mountain?”

Xena peered inside the crack, her eyes picking out details
lost to her partner. “It’s a big cave.” She said. “Probably lets out near
plateau.. we’re on the other side of the wall from it.”The scent that came from the
crack held the smell of the animals, and water, and at the far edges,
dirt.

The bard looked down at the trunk in her lap. “I don’t think
she meant to scare anyone.”

“Sure.” Pony muttered.

Instead of anger, Gabrielle could only feel sadness. All the
aggressiveness she’d been filled with for days had drained away, and she
couldn’t prevent memories from surfacing of another time, and another long
period of anger, and…

Xena’s lips pressed against the side of her head, and she
set aside the images.

The trunk curled around her wrist and squeezed. Gabrielle
wrapped her hands around it and squeezed back. Could the animal feel her
pain?She looked up at her
partner, who gently held a hand out to her.“They saved our lives back there, Xena.”

“I know.”

Gabrielle gave the trunk a last pat. “Goodbye again, my
friend.” She leaned near the crack and peered inside.“Take care of yourself, okay?”

The big eye gazed at her, and the trunk curled around her
arm, pulling her closer.

“I have to go.” The bard gently unwrapped the snout. “Be
good.”

She stood and took a step back, hearing a soft trumpet
inside the rock as the snout snaked out and reached for her again.There was a note of urgency, she
thought, but she backed away again, coming to rest against Xena’s body as she
gazed unhappily at the opening. “Xe, she’s trying to tell us something.”

Privately, the warrior agreed. However. “C’mon.” She clasped
Gabrielle’s shoulder. “We don’t have time to figure it out.”She glanced over at the rest of their
party, as the animal trumpeted loudly again, waving it’s snout at them. “Let’s
go.”

“You go first.” Granella told her. “I’m not going to be one
to meet any more of your.. friends.”

Xena exhaled. “All right.” She turned and examined the path,
reaching out to touch the rock wall.

Gabrielle took hold of her arm. “Xena.. “ She watched the
snout thrash about urgently. “We’re missing something here.” Her voice
roughened a little. “It’s almost like she’s trying to stop us.. she must know
something, and I think..”

The warrior encircled her with one long arm. “Sweetheart, I
believe that.” She whispered. “But we’ve got to get out of here.”

“I know, but..”

“No, Gabrielle..” Xena’s voice took on it’s own urgency. “We
have to get Ares out of this valley.”

Gabrielle blinked a few times, aware of the motion of their
companions moving towards them, conscious that the privacy of Xena’s embrace
would last only a few moments longer. “What? I.. of course we do b..”

“Gabrielle.” Xena lifted her other hand and cupped the
bard’s cheek. “We have to.”

Xena released her cheek and touched her own chest.
“Something I feel. In here.” She uttered back. “I just…” The warrior hesitated.
“I don’t’ think I can ignore it.”

“Oh, Xena.”The
bard glanced around, then back at her. “But what if…” Her gaze lifted to the
hilt of the sword of war, looming over Xena’s shoulder. “Gods.”

It all came down on her in a rush, the sudden realization of
what had happened when Xena’s hand touched that hilt, and what might happen if
Ares didn’t survive.

And Xena did.

Gabrielle felt so sick suddenly, she thought she was going
to throw up.Death hadn’t yet been
able to separate them, but, she knew with a stark knowledge, immortality would.

Would that be Xena’s fate, to take Ares place?The bard stared past her partner,
finding Ares looking back at her, with a twisted smile, sunken eyes bleakly
knowing.

Gods.

Xena cupped her cheek again. “Trust me.” Blue eyes met hers,
and they both acknowledged silently the history between them.“Trust me.”

Gabrielle released a slow breath, remembering very clearly
one of those things. “Okay.” She murmured. “I’m with you.”She turned and started back to where
Ares was still slouching, her mind whirling with new, and unpleasant
possibilities.

Pony and Gran could be the least of their problems.

**

Late afternoon sun draped over Gabrielle’s back as she
stood, leaning against the wall as they paused to rest a bit. The warmth felt
good, as the wind had dropped a little and she rested her head against the stone
wishing she could just go to sleep in it.

“Wait here.” Xena patted her arm. “I’m gonna check up
ahead.. maybe there’s a spot we can sit down a minute.”

“Xena.” Gabrielle laid her cheek against the granite. “I’ll
be fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Gabrielle, would you do something for me?”

The bard gazed at her. “Sure. Anything.”

“Shut up.” Xena leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips.
“Be right back.” She disappeared around the next corner of the path and left
Gabrielle to decide if she wanted to turn and face her companions or merely
ignore them.

There was a lot to be said for the latter. Ares was right
next to her, and the other two a little distance from him and none of them were
really giving out any vibes that made her want to talk to them.

Gabrielle knew she had a reputation for being a friendly,
talkative, good hearted person. She also knew that by and large, that wasn’t
too far off the mark, really, though she certainly had her pissy moments and
bouts of ill temper.

And usually, they were with Xena,not with other people because at this stage in their lives
together, Xena was the only person who she trusted utterly with the ugliest
side of herself.For everyone
else, she had a reputation to maintain and she did her best to do just that – and
she knew if she turned around and started talking to her companions she’s blow
her reputation right onout of the
water.

What good would that do, really?

Sometimes she the thought, of the two of them, that Xena
really had it easier. She could just be Xena, and be cranky, or gruff, or rude
and people just took it for granted because she was who she was.When Gabrielle was rude to someone, she
had a half dozen people searching her out to find out what was the matter, and
could they help, and should they go get Xena.

Sheesh.

But then, she remembered, there was the council, and the day
they’d turned her away, dismissing her influence like…

Well….

“Gods be damned!” Gabrielle walked in and slammed the door
to the cabin, glad Dori was with her cousins so she could vent her aggravation
in private. “What in Hades is wrong with people?” She asked the wall.

The cabin remained, naturally, silent, and she pulled off
her gauntets and tossed them over onto her writing table, stripping out of her
cloak and dropping that over the chair as well.

She sat down and rested her elbows on her knees, feeling
the frustration tying her up in knotsIt wasn’t even anything really that momentous, just the town council,
telling her off.

Gabrielle was self aware enough to know it was her ego
more than anything. She’d given what she thought was good service to the town,
done what she could and all that, but now she found out that what she’d thought
was gratefully accepted advice was really…

Well, they’d told her they really just let her talk to
make Xena happy.

The bard swallowed, caught between tears and a deep
embarrassment.Was that
really what everyone did? Humor her, just to keep on her partner’s good
side?Were all the plaudits, and
the accolades just like those of the town’s?

Fake?

“Damn it.” Gabrielle whispered. “Damn it, all I wanted
from life was just a…”

Her vision was filled, suddenly, with a deep red blob,
which resolved into a pretty rose being twirled gently between Xena’s fingers.
“Oh.”

“Here.” Xena offered her the flower.

The bard took it, the gentle fragrance filling her nose.
“What’s this for?”

Xena sat down on the floor next to her, and laced her
fingers together. “Tor told me what happened with the council.”

For a moment, Gabrielle thought about just pretending,
brushing it off as she knew her partner would have done in her place.But then, a certain weight lifted off
her when she remembered this was the one person in her life she didn’t have to
do that with. “That hurt.” She muttered, softly.

“Yeah.” Xena wrapped her arm around the bard’s leg and
patted her foot. “I know.”

Gabrielle stared at the ground. “You think that’s true
for everyone, Xena?” She turned her head and looked at the warrior. “Everyone
just tells me how great I am because of you?”

Xena sat there for a bit, her brow contracted.Then she cleared her throat gently. “It
could be that some people might do that.”

It was like being hit in the head. Gabrielle felt tears
start to sting her eyes, and she bit the inside of her lip.

“Some people might say they’re listening to you, or
trusting you just because they want to get on my good side, sure.”Xena went on. “But I trust you with my
life because you’ve earned it, and I listen to you because you’re damned right
most of the time.”

Gabrielle’s nostrils flared a little, and her skin
prickled as the words penetrated her dismay. She peeked over at Xena’s face,
finding an expression of wry love there waiting for her and she felt an
overwhelming surge of deep emotion that brought more tears, but for a completely
different reason.

“For what that’s worth.” The warrior added. “Gotta make
points with myself, right?”

The bard had to smile.She set the rose down on her writing table and turned,
slipping off the chair and onto her knees on the floor before Xena’s seated
form. “Thanks.” She rested her hands on the warrior’s shoulders and touched her
forehead to Xena’s. “What would I do without you?”

“Get your kudos honestly?” Xena demurred, with a smile of
her own.

“Xe.”

The warrior kissed her. “Now you gotta do me a favor.”

Gabrielle exhaled, closing her eyes. “Anything.”

“Tell me which jackass said that to you so I can go kick
his ass and reinforce your theory.”

Through her tears, Gabrielle started laughing, and they
both tumbled together on the floor in a tangle of limbs and giggles.

“To Hades with all of em.”

“Hey.” Ares prodded her.

Reluctantly, Gabrielle lifted her cheek off the rock and
turned her head to look at him. “Yes?”

“Big bitch stick you again?”

Gabrielle stared at him, her eyes blinking several times.
“Huh?”

Ares rolled his eyes. “You’re pregnant?”

Even the question felt invasive.The bard considered not answering, but she suspected the god
of war would simply continue to ask if she didn’t. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Ares queried.

The bard halfshrugged. “Maybe.” She repeated. “I guess time will tell.” She paused.
“Wait…shouldn’t you know?”

“Me???”The
dark haired man snorted. “Trust me, babe.. I never stuck around any female long
enough to be able to tell one way or the other.”

Gabrielle scratched the bridge of her nose. “I meant,
because you’re a god.” She said. “Not because you screwed a lot of people.” She
glanced past him, to find Pony listening to her, while Gran huddled in a ball
on the ground.

Ares let his head rest against the rock as he gazed at her.
His eyes were deeply sunken, and it was all he was able to do to keep up with
even the slow pace they were keeping. “Know how I found out the first time?”

Gabrielle shook her head.

“Dite punched me.” Ares related. “After you took the header
and she popped you out.”

The bard’s eyes warmed. “Good for her.”

“Nice.”

“Sorry.” Gabrielle said. “Am I supposed to be grateful to
you for asking me to do that?” She asked.

Gabrielle studied his face. “I don’t know about that.” She
murmured. “But I wonder if you’d asked Xena, if she’d have thanked you that day
for saving her life.”

Ares snorted, and looked away.

“You’re really lucky Aphrodite did what she did, Ares.” The
bard went on. “Because if I had died… I would have found my way up to Olympus
and you’d have paid for what you put her through.”

The god of war slowly turned his head and looked at her,
both eyebrows hiking.“You’ve got
a really screwed up idea of mortality,doncha?”

Gabrielle half smiled. “That’s what happens when you live
with Xena, I guess.”She sensed
the warrior coming back and turned her head to watch the path, her eyes
focusing on her partner’s face as it emerged.

Uh oh. To anyone else, the warrior appeared her usual stoic
self, but Gabrielle knew in an instant they were in real trouble.

Okay, they were in more trouble than the had been a moment
before, which wasn’t really saying much to be honest.Gabrielle took her courage in her hands and pushed away from
the wall, straightening and turning her body to face her partner. “Hey.”

“Hey.”Xena
turned and leaned against the wall, bending her knees a bit so her face was
hidden from view of their companions.She tilted her head and looked at Gabrielle, letting the mask slip
briefly, an expression of bewildered frustration on her face. “Got a problem up
ahead.”

The warrior composed herself, and straightened up. “Okay,
listen up.”She said,
briefly.“Looks like we’re gonna
have to… “ Uncharacteristically, Xena hesitated. “We’ve pretty much run out of
options here.”She looked at the
eyes focused on her, aware of the responsibility on her shoulders.

Responsibility she had just betrayed. “The path’s out
ahead.” She explained. “Just around that bend.” With a jerk ofher head, she indicated the curve.

“What?” Pony asked. “Whatddaya mean?”

Gabrielle nodded a little, to herself.“For how far, Xena. Can we..”

“Out. Gone.” Xena put her hand on Gabrielle’s shoulder. “We
can’t go back.” She said. “And there’s only one way out ahead of us, and that’s
up.”

Xena visibly squared her shoulders and tipped her head back,
looking straight up at the rockwall
that ended in a squared off edge, with blue sky and white clouds above it.
“Up.” She indicated the wall. “It’s the only way out.”

Everyone stared at her in silence, even Ares.

After a moment, Gabrielle slumped against Xena, covering her
eyes with one hand. “Gods.”

Ares slowly slid down the wall, ending up sitting with his
legs splayed out and his face a stark white. ‘Y’aint getting no help from me,
babe. Sorry.”